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dose

Pronunciation: /dəʊs/

Translate dose | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of dose

noun

  • a quantity of a medicine or drug taken or recommended to be taken at a particular time:he took a dose of cough mixture
  • an amount of ionizing radiation received or absorbed at one time or over a specified period:a dose of radiation exceeding safety limits
  • informal a venereal infection.
  • informal a quantity of something unpleasant but necessary:I wanted to give you a dose of the hell you put me through

verb

[with object]
  • administer a dose to (a person or animal):he dosed himself with vitamins
  • adulterate or blend (a substance) with another substance:the petrol is dosed with lead

Phrases

in small doses

informal when experienced or engaged in a little at a time:computer games are great in small doses

like a dose of salts

British informal very fast and efficiently:we’ll go through this place like a dose of salts and scrub it from top to bottom
[from the use of Epsom salts as a laxative]

Origin:

late Middle English: from French, via late Latin from Greek dosis 'gift', from didonai 'give'

dose in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of dose in the US English dictionary

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